4-Hills-Tournament with record prize money

16 December 2013 09:37

The "Golden Eagle" Trophy -

Brigitte Waltl-Jensen / OC 4-Hills-Tournament

With record prize money of about CHF 315 000, and a new jackpot-rule for the winner of the qualifications, the 4-Hills-Tournament enters a new dimension this winter. The organizers announced that the traditional ski jumping series (December 28th to January 6th) will award a prize money of € 2 000 to the winner of the qualification round.

"We want to make the qualification more attractive and make it an even bigger spectacle for the fans. This significantly enhances the 4-Hills-Tournament as a whole," explained Alfons Schranz (Innsbruck), president of the 4-Hills-Tournament.

The organizers were supported in their proposal by FIS, the national ski associations of Germany and Austria and with the international broadcasters. In the past some pre-qualified top athletes skipped the qualification for tactical reasons.

"Hopefully the additional prize money will provide an incentive for all the favorites to take part in the qualification," said Stefan Huber, general secretary of the 4-Hills-Tournament.

With a jackpot-rule, the prize money for the qualification will only be distributed if a qualification round counts and all ten pre-qualified athletes take part. If the jury has to cancel the round before the pre-qualified athletes due to difficult weather conditions or other reasons, the € 2000 go to a jackpot and will be awarded to the winner of the qualification at the next location.

The overall winner will also get extra prize money: Like last year, the organizes reward the overall winner of the 4-Hills-Tournament with CHF 20 000 and the "golden eagle", a trophy that was awarded for the first time last year when Gregor Schlierenzauer won the tournament.

The Austrian record World Cup winner can once again write history at the 62nd 4-Hills-Tournament. After his two triumphs in 2011/12 and 2012/13, he is in position to win for the third straight time and draw level with Bjoern Wirkola. The Norwegian is the only ski jumper in history to win the 4-Hills-Tournament three times in a row. He did that in the 1960s.